The Favor He Owed
by ruan-san
Summary: Okay, he would be the first to admit that he owed the girl a lot, but... He definitely got the short end of the stick. AU Dramione time-travel


**Author's Note: My final New story, and its a Dramione! Been awhile. I hope you enjoy the chapter. R&R people! **

**Disclaimer: I'm only saying this once- I DON'T OWN ANYTHING.**

* * *

"I know I said that I'd do anything to make up for all that you've done for me, but I feel like I might have gotten the short end of the stick," Draco muttered, lifting his head up from Hermione's personal journal. The pages were completely covered in scrawled notes and intricate runes. Now, Draco was by no means an expert in runes (and Hermione's handwriting certainly wasn't the neatest he'd ever seen), but even he could tell what the woman wanted to attempt.

"Need I remind you that I saved your family from the wrath of the Dark Lord, and have played a major part in keeping you all safe up to now? Considering I've had to deal with the likes of you for a couple of months now, I'd say I'm the one that got the short end of the stick," Hermione retorted with a snort.

"But honestly, Granger-time travel? Do you realize the potential consequences for this? I mean, you can go ahead and do whatever the bloody hell you want, but you have to drag me into this?"

"Malfoy, the war is going nowhere at this point-neither side seems to gain the upper hand for long. We're going back and forth, only dragging things on and losing more lives. But if we could go back, and find out what is keeping Voldemort alive, we could end this thing early. I need you to come with me, because I sure as hell can't do it on my own."

"Then why not bring Potter, or even Weasley?"

"That should be obvious, even to you. Those two are too compassionate and pig-headed. If I brought them, they would muck up everything in an attempt to save everyone. They might just make everything worse for the Light."

"So, what? You needed a cold-hearted pushover and immediately thought of me?" Draco asked sarcastically.

"Basically," she replied with a grin.

"Where would we even start? We know nothing about how Voldemort keeps on returning, even after we've killed him-what?-three times already? Four?"

"Well, I've been doing some research in your family's library-"

"I should've known."

"-and I found this," Hermione continued as if she hadn't been interrupted. She pulled up a large book that Draco guessed weighed at least half her body weight, opening it and flipping through the pages at lightening speed. "I had been looking up things like immortality and rebirth, and this term keeps showing up: _Horcrux. _As far as I can tell, a Horcrux seems to be some kind of object in which a witch or wizard has inserted their soul into it somehow. As long as the fragment of the soul is still intact-tethered to the living world by the object-they can still come back. I'm almost positive that this is what is keeping Voldemort alive.

"However, I don't know any more than that. This is why I think time travel is our best option. Before he died, I think Dumbledore might have been getting ready to tell us something. I mean, he called us-Harry, Ron, and I-to his office that night for a reason. We just never got the opportunity to find out what that reason was. Do you remember how he died?"

"Yeah, he was cursed by that ring he was wearing. No one even knew where he got it-never saw it until you guys found his body."

"Exactly. I think the ring was a Horcrux. I mean, not just any curse could have killed him. Dumbledore was many things, but he was not a man easily taken down. But what if the part of Voldemort's soul, oh I don't know, attacked him when he tried to destroy it? That might've been enough. After all, Voldemort is also an extremely powerful wizard, and I have a feeling Horcruxes are very powerful and very dangerous things."

"But that doesn't explain how Voldemort keeps coming back."

"I've thought about that too. I don't really know how to explain..." Hermione paused, thinking it over in her head. "Well, the best thing I could come up with is he made multiple Horcruxes to ensure his immortality. The more the merrier, right?"

"It still doesn't make sense! If we're just gonna die after destroying one Horcrux, wouldn't we need multiple people to come with us? Like I said earlier, Voldemort's been resurrected about three times, so we know he has more than three Horcruxes."

"Remember how Dumbledore was wearing the ring, and the curse seemed to have stemmed from where the ring was? I figure the curse got him because he put the ring on. So, if we just refrain from wearing Tom Riddle's soul on any part of our bodies, we should be fine."

"You've really thought this through, haven't you Granger?"

"Bookworm, remember? I even know what year we'll be going to."

"Really?"

"Yup. Third Year-the year before Dumbledore's death. I'm not a _hundred percent_ sure that we'll land right at the beginning of the year, but I know I at least got it to drop us sometime in our third year. Hopefully."

"Not a hundred percent sure? _Sometime_ in our third year? _Hopefully? _You're not very good at selling your case, Granger. "

"Well, this spell happens to need a lot of magic, it's not exactly something I can test without the Death Eaters noticing. My calculations seem to be working...we should be fine."

_"Should be?!"_

"Oh, shut it, Malfoy. What do we have to lose anyway?"

Draco leaned back in his chair, studying her. The girl was practically begging him with her eyes to help her out. With a heavy sigh, he nodded his head.

"Fine. When do we start?"

* * *

"Shit, Granger you need to hurry up!" Draco shouted over the crashes and bangs of the Death Eaters trying to get in. He stood in the the center of an array of runes, sweating as the former Gryffindor retained her kneeling position outside of the rune circle, feeding her magic to it.

"It's fine," Hermione panted, an explosion resounding outside as if in protest to her words.

"No, it really isn't. How much magic did you say this spell needs? If you don't hurry, you won't get in the circle in time!" When she flinched, he narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. "You never planned on going, did you?"

"This spell is very powerful...but not powerful enough for the both of us," she said softly.

"Then let's switch! I'll stay here and finish the spell while you _hurry up and get inside the circle!" _

"Don't you get it? I'm the same as Ron and Harry! I'm too emotionally involved in this war! I can't be the one to go back."

"Granger-"

"It'll be fine," she cut him off with a smile, finally standing as the door burst open. "Just try not let past me annoy you too much."

The last thing he saw was Hermione raising her wand toward the approaching Death Eaters before he was suddenly blinded by a bright white light.

...And when the light cleared, a fist was headed for his face.


End file.
